The manufacturing process starts with raw materials, which through a primary assembly line are assembled into a frame while sub assembly lines combine various raw materials and components with the frame on the primary assembly line ultimately producing the finished vehicle.

The manufacturing process is broken down step by step to produce time and cost estimates. In this example, the first step involves the receiving and separation of raw materials, organizing and preparing them for inclusion in the manufacturing process. The entire manufacturing process has been estimated through this step by step process. A projected floor plan layout of this step is at the bottom.

An example pilot plant of 8,000 sf is depicted. Starting on the left, raw materials are received, inventoried, and sorted. Parts and processed through 3 lanes into the frame and internal components, until they reach the right side and assembly begins. The assembly chain progresses down the right hand side and turns to follow the lower wall back to the left side, where the drive train, body panels, and final assembly take place.

An example segment of the assembly line in a mass production plant is presented. Structural metal parts are polished, cut, bent, and then assembled into jigs, welded, and conveyed to the primary assembly line. Approximately a dozen such manufacturing line segments would feed the large primary assembly line. In this segment and all others industrial automation robotics are used to facilitate production.  These robots come primarily in 3 types, articulated robots, “SCARA” robots, and Cartesian Coordinate Robots.  They vary in complexity and size and range in cost from a few thousand dollars to over 100,000 for the largest. Estimating the number and type of robots required to facilitate mass production involves reducing the manufacturing process down to its conceptually simplest root; parts are sorted, moved, or modified (welded, cut, etc)

In the section represented approximately 5 separate stages utilize 12 placement, assembler, or welding robots and 10 separate automated industrial machines to transform raw structural metal parts into frame assemblies.  An example process would proceed as follows, raw material storage racks would house steel tubes of various sizes and lengths. The racks are loaded by workers with material supplied by wholesale suppliers using powered lifting equipment. In between the storage racks are robotic conveyors which pick the next required bar and place it on the conveyor.  The conveyor moves the part to a self centering automated tube polisher which cleans the steel tubes and removes imperfections from their surfaces. The polished tubes land on a sorter which delivers them to an automated tube cutting machine which compared to a computerized inventory recognizes the diameter of the tube and cuts it to the appropriate length of the next needed part. The cut to length and polished tubes are delivered to a computer controlled tube bender which transforms the straight tube into the component tube necessary for the frame or frame sub assembly

The table above and on the left shows the estimated required industrial machines (industrial robotics, CNC cutting, vacuum forming, etc) at each individual stage of the manufacturing process as well as their estimated costs. A total of 166 machines at an estimated 4.5 million dollars will represent the startup capital required to equip a full scale industrial mass production assembly line capable of producing approximately 3 bikes per hour or 24,000 bikes per year at 90% active production time. Adding an additional 1 million for tooling and other costs for 5.5 million totals, the 5 year amortized per bike cost of the startup capital is approximately $47 per vehicle. The table on the right is the cost estimates of individual components in the production of each vehicle